


Something Good

by Cinder



Category: Ted Lasso (TV)
Genre: (she's got a lot of stuff to work out okay?), F/M, Rebecca swears A LOT in this, becasue Rupert's in the fic, took the title from Sound of Music's "Something Good" cause Ted loves musical theatre, tw for abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-25
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-15 19:35:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29688903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cinder/pseuds/Cinder
Summary: In the first minute of meeting him, Rebecca Welton locks eyes with Ted Lasso and realizes he's her soulmate. (And that the universe hates her.)*Soulmate AU
Relationships: Ted Lasso/Rebecca Welton
Comments: 11
Kudos: 28





	Something Good

**Author's Note:**

> A trigger warning for this fic - it depicts an abusive relationship (Rupert and Rebecca's former relationship).

No. 

No no no no no.

The universe fucking hated her. 

It was the only explanation she had for the fact that Ted Lasso - American football coach, wanker, and key to Richmond’s downfall - was her soulmate. 

Why? Seriously, why her? Hadn’t the universe already fucked her over enough by having her be married to Rupert for 12 years? 

But it was unmistakable. In all the small talk at parties and galas, where she had had to listen to numerous soulmate meet cute stories, every single person had stressed that the second their eyes met, they knew. In a split second, in that glance, their entire world changed. 

The second Ted had walked into their room, and their eyes met, something inside her clicked. As though a puzzle piece, long missing, had finally found its place inside her. She watched his eyes widen, the smile dropping from his face to be replaced by shock, and knew that he had felt it too. 

“Higgins, could you take Coach Beard and get them the information he needs?” She managed to force the words out, although her eyes didn’t leave Ted’s. Higgins looked back and forth between her and Ted, but he nodded and left the room. After a curious look at Ted, the coach followed him. 

“Oh this is not happening,” she said. She collapsed onto the couch, feeling numb. 

“This was not what I pictured either,” Ted said. He took a deep breath, and looked at her. “So, what do you want to do?” 

“Well, I – I don’t know,” she said. “Honestly, I never planned for this happening. I didn’t – at some point I just assumed that my soulmate wouldn’t show up.” 

Seriously, where the hell had he been in her childhood? Where had he been in uni? Where had he been before she started dating Rupert? She used to be ready for him, used to dream about meeting her soulmate. But then she had met Rupert, and all those dreams and fantasies had been crushed out years ago. 

Ted gave a soft laugh. “Well, ta-da.” He waved his hands. Then he took a deep breath. “Okay, I know where to start. Well, this – I mean, I know some soulmates are –“ He blushed. “Romantically inclined. Not that I would assume anything –“ He cleared his throat. “But I’m married, so that is out of the picture.”

“That’s quite fine with me,” Rebecca said. She was torn between annoyance that he would even think she might want a relationship with him (she was recently divorced! They had met two seconds ago!), and relief that at least they had gotten it out of the way so soon. 

“Good. So we’ll just be friends then.” Now that he had gotten the awkward part out of the way, Ted’s face wore a sunny smile. 

“Yes. Friends.” She gave a quick nod. Then something occurred to her. “I would like to insist that we keep this secret, though. If the press found out –“ 

“Oh, definitely.” Ted nodded. “I understand you wanting your privacy. I’d like to tell my wife, though. It wouldn’t feel right to keep something like this from her.” 

Rebecca hesitated for a second, then nodded. “Of course.” She really didn’t want anyone to know – anyone could be suspectable to the press for the right price. But she couldn’t think of a way to object without immediately alienating Ted, and for her plan to work, she needed for him to trust her. Then she cleared her throat. “Right. Well, would you like a tour of the club?”

*

Rebecca had to hold in a chuckle as she walked back to her office, leaving Higgins gaping behind her. The look on his face as she had told him her plan had been priceless. She suspected he’d wrestle with his conscious for a while, consider telling Ted everything, but back out at the last second. 

She knew Higgins. The man was too weak – so long as she was paying him, he’d take whatever abuse she tossed his way, just like he had with Rupert. It was going to be fun watching him around Ted, trying to push down the guilt. And there would be a lot of guilt, if the press conference this afternoon had been anything to judge by.

The press had gone at the new gaffer with knives out, although she had kept it from getting too bloody in the end. 

She worried about that for a second. Had she stepped in to protect him because he was her soulmate? 

No, she shook the thought away. The press had been about to get really merciless, and it was too early for a full on public breakdown. She needed to justify this hire so that her sabotage didn’t seem too obvious. The reasons she had given to the press were just sound enough to make her seem like she actually did have hope for the team. 

Alone in her office, she Googled “soulmates, mistake, wrong”. Several of the sites she looked through gave her same basic info: each person in the world had a soulmate, and that soulmate was your soul’s perfect complement. You were literally made for each other. No, your soulmate didn’t have to be romantic, although around 75% of soulmates matches turned out that way. 

The sites all said that sometimes matches were confusing, that sometimes adjusting to a match took time. (There wouldn’t be enough time in the WORLD to adjust to Ted Lasso being her soulmate.) 

None of them mentioned that a mistake had been made, and sometimes people only met someone they THOUGHT was their soulmate.

Fuck. 

Looks like she really did have to deal with this. She slammed her laptop shut, jaw clenching when she heard the sound of her screen breaking. 

Rupert had gaslit her and tortured her for years. And he was still England’s most loved millionaire. Thanks to the tabloids, everybody thought she was a frozen bitch who had henpecked him into running for comfort into the arms of the nearest dozen or so models. She had had everything taken from her, and people hated her for it.

So fuck it. She was going nuclear, and she was going nuclear on everyone. They had all watched, they had all heard Rupert’s veiled comments, his wandering eyes. Her so-called friends, her colleagues, even HIGGINS, for God’s sake. 

If they had wanted Richmond to succeed, then maybe they shouldn’t have just stood by and watched Rupert ruin her. If Rupert had wanted his team to win, maybe he shouldn’t have cheated and ripped her self-esteem to pieces. If fans wanted their team to win so badly, maybe they shouldn’t have whined and swore so loudly when she took over the team. 

Fuck all of them. They had made her into this, and they were going to goddamn deal with the consequences. 

She would not give this up just cause her soulmate happened to be some hick from Kentucky. Kansas. Whatever.


End file.
